The War Court and Lap Pillow, Austria's Mandate of Heaven

766 next time

Franz looked at the beautiful letter, and he couldn't help but wonder what Pius IX was thinking.To be honest, the attitude of the British towards the Great Irish Famine has already raised Franz's blood pressure, and he doesn't want to know what dirty thoughts the Pope has.

Just releasing all the liberals that Gregory XVI imprisoned was enough to give Franz a headache.

Although the leprosy patient was not a good person and his methods were not clever, at least he would not do such a thing of digging his own grave.

Franz really couldn't figure out how those shrewd cardinals would push such a person to the position of pope. What he didn't know was that the latter's intestines were remorseful at this time.

As soon as Pius IX came to power, he first released the felons in the Vatican, and then swung the knife at the cardinals who pushed him to power in the second step.

The status of a cardinal is actually very respected, and even the king usually has no right to remove him, or even the ability to remove him.

But even the strongest fortresses are vulnerable inside.These people who are not very constrained by secular dogma on weekdays can't resist the Pope's will.

In fact, it is not that no one has thought of pulling down the pope, but in order to remove the pope, an ecumenical council with all the cardinals must be convened.

However, I have to talk about Pius IX's approach. I don't know if the pope had expected this day long ago, or he was wrong. As soon as he came to power, he appointed a large number of cardinals from outside Europe. If you don't pay tithes, you choose to refuse to obey the imperial edict.

There was a cardinal absent, so the Grand Council could not be held, or it did not have enough credibility. As a result, Pius IX was invincible.

And those cardinals who previously claimed to remove the Pope through the removal of the Grand Council have become the next targets to be attacked, and the crime of defaming the Holy See is big enough.

At this time, the only ones these cardinals could turn to for help were the big powers, but the big powers who had been teased before also wanted to save face, and the latter knew very well that the price of going through this muddy water was too high.

Because in the field of religion, the pope himself occupies the moral high ground, and at the same time, this is the internal affairs of the papal state. Although the pope's operation is a bit outrageous, as long as those words are not put into action, the great powers have no right to interfere.

Seeing that the cardinals could no longer defeat their opponents in conventional and secular ways, the method they thought of was spreading rumors.

Just before Pius IX came to the throne, there were various natural disasters, especially the failed exorcism ceremony, and the devoured Vatican Gardens, all of which became the best material.

It's just that the more these people organize, the more terrifying they feel, because the disasters in recent years have indeed been too intensive.

Droughts, floods, volcanic eruptions, tsunamis, plagues of locusts, plagues (cholera), meteors (meteorites), and the utterly unexplained late blight of the potato were also included in the list.

From this point of view, Pius IX is completely the devil king descended into the world. At this time, the believers of "Satan" were released and let them manage the country.

At that time, the church often referred to non-believers as "Satan" believers. Simply put, it was an either-or diode thinking.

So even if Franz didn't believe in religion, he had to pretend to be very pious, and even acquiesced in the "born saint" personality.

Because accepting it will save a lot of trouble, and not accepting it will put you in a passive position.

As for Pius IX, although he released the political prisoners imprisoned by the Vatican, he even appointed a large number of liberal officials.

But no matter where he went, he would choose to sit on the holy seat carried by twelve strong servants, surrounded by hundreds of noble guards with muskets, Swiss guards with halberds, Holy See generals in medieval armor.

Such ostentation was in stark contrast to the ordinary people of the Papal State who often had to rely on wild vegetables to satisfy their hunger and were disheveled.

At the same time, none of the Holy Water Company, the Holy Spirit Bank, and the Gospel Coupon Pius IX that the previous pope had run had failed, and he chose to accept them all.

What's even more outrageous is that after the new Pope came to power, he planned to start a new model, that is, franchise agency, let countries pay money and people to carry out these projects in the name of the church on their own land, and then everyone divides the money.

A series of operations almost shocked Franz's jaw, and a modern profiteer is nothing more than that.They are ready to use the great powers as tool people, and they still cut their own leeks.

Madam Sophie actually thought about it seriously, she seemed to be profitable.

"Franz, it may be beneficial to Austria to have a good relationship with the Papal State, and those companies can also make money. You see, the Pope said that these businesses support 80% of the Papal State's tax revenue."

Franz raised his forehead, his mother is indeed not suitable for business.

"The Pope can really make money, so why does he still need to borrow money from us every year? The tax revenue of the entire Papal State is not as much as the Pope's personal donation.

It is not certain whether 80% of the Pope's country can be compared with our Austrian province.There is no need to compare with provinces that are too rich.

Compared with Galicia and Vojvodina, which are relatively remote, the million-dollar tax collection of the Papal State is a joke, even the Hungarians are better than them. "

Mrs. Sophie was still a little hesitant, mainly because she particularly hoped to get Franz and the Pope related. In fact, it was a kind of traditional thinking at the time, thinking that the royal family should have a good relationship with the church, so as to borrow its influence. .

The problem is that the influence of the royal family is far stronger than that of the church in Austria, and the local church has already been tamed, and there is no way to get close to the so-called pope.

"Frantz, you are so good at business, maybe these businesses can be revived in your hands? I still remember that you sold all the military uniforms I produced.

Why can't this little thing be done? "

"Mother, we in Austria also have our own Holy Spirit Bank and Holy Water Company, but the former is used to help farmers and subsidize small businesses, while the latter sells things like alcohol, bleach, toothpaste, soap, toilet paper.

Although these things have not been fully accepted by the public at this time, the benefits are real.

And what is the Papal State selling?A glass of river water that has been left for an unknown number of days costs 20 florins!If you change into copper coins, you will have to fill a bag full!

(20 florins are equal to 9600 quarter pfennies. Quarter pfennies are the smallest currency used in normal transactions. There are actually smaller ones, but usually only used in the countryside.)
And the so-called Holy Spirit Bank is a loan shark company!They will do anything for money. If Jesus knew about it, he would jump off the cross and beat them! "

Franz was hit on the head by Madam Sophie when he was talking vigorously.

"How can you tease the Holy Son?"

"Please forgive me, Amen!" Franz crossed himself. He didn't want to continue to entangle with Madam Sophie, but he had to say something clearly.

"Mother, do you think that if it is really so profitable and so good, why don't those Jesuit priests under the pope do it themselves?
There are seven big lies in the East: asking for a child with a lot of money, hiring with a high salary, selling at a loss, transferring a prosperous shop, recovering at a high price, joining as an agent, and sure next time. "

(End of this chapter)